LOPATCONG — Pohatcong is on the verge of approving its own union contracts with its police department, said Mayor James Kern III at the South Warren Regional Police Department commission meeting yesterday.

As a result, the commission will begin creating proposals for a merged police department union agreement, or the rules governing working conditions between employees and employer, should Pohatcong and Lopatcong Police Departments merge.

Representatives from the Pohatcong and Lopatcong Police Departments were expected to begin discussing what they’d like to see from a new collective bargaining agreement last night.

Lopatcong Mayor Doug Steinhardt and chair of the commission said he will begin comparing the contracts from the two existing collective bargaining agreements, including provisions that have financial implications like insurance, pension benefits and salary guides.

By the next meeting, Steinhardt said he is hopeful that the commission will have created a spreadsheet comparing the various contract provisions and will be able to discuss the proposals that it wants to present to the police bargaining unit.